Foduck Does It All
Foduck Does It All We are in the Harbor Master’s office. He is putting away his maps, papers, stamp, and pencil. “Oh, hello! I’m just putting things away. It’s nearly time for lunch.” He goes to sit down in his desk chair. “I’m putting away all my work because I want to make sure that I have a break. If I didn’t take breaks, oh boy, would I be stressed out!” He stops and thinks. “That reminds me of what happened to Foduck when he tried to do everything.” It was a nice sunny day. Foduck was on his first safety patrol. He was inspecting bell buoys. He had arrived at Bedford. “Good morning Bedford,” he said cheerfully as he came towards him. “Morning Foduck,” replied Bedford. “I’m ready for my inspection.” Foduck stopped in front of Bedford. He could see he was off his spot. He gently pushed him back into his proper place. “Now, please ding you bell,” ordered Foduck. Bedford did this. His bell rang sweetly, just like the seagulls. “Wonderful,” said Foduck. “Are you feeling ship-shape?” “Yes I am. Nothing seems to be wrong with me,” said Bedford confidently. Foduck whistled goodbye to Bedford and sailed away for home. He had completed his work. At the Great Ocean Dock the Dispatcher was pleased to see Foduck. “Ah, Foduck!” exclaimed the Dispatcher as Foduck approached. “I need you to take a container ship to the harbor entrance.” Foduck whistled twice to say “yes Sir,” and went away. He found Pearl waiting near a dock, where a ship named Kathrine was staying. Foduck buttoned on and pulled away. They soon reached the harbor entrance. Kathrine blew her whistle to thank Foduck as she set off for the ocean. Pearl was just leaving when Foduck had a thought. “Maybe I could do other jobs,” he thought, “since I’ve gotten my work done. After all, the harbor needs all hands on deck.” He raced after Pearl til he caught up to her. “Is there any other jobs I could do?” he asked. Pearl thought for a moment. “Well, we do need a tugboat to move Shelburne across the harbor.” “Oh, I can do that,” said Foduck excitedly. “Then I’ll find you or Petra to get another job.” Before Pearl could say anything Foduck rushed away. He found Shelburne loaded with coal. Foduck buttoned on. They began to move. “This is a heavy load,” he groaned as they floated through the harbor. “They need it for an important job,” explained Shelburne. Foduck smiled. “I knew this would be a good idea,” he thought happily. After he’d finished moving Shelburne he refilled his tank. Then he went to find one of the pilot boats. On the way he found Petra, looking worried. He went to speak to her. “Is there anything I can help with?” he asked hopefully. “Yes. We need a tugboat to bring ships in and out of the harbor,” said Petra. “All the other tugboats seem busy.” “Where should I start?” he asked. “You can start with Jake,” said Clayton, as he came rolling down his track. Foduck went to find Jake. As Foduck buttoned onto Jake, Jake began to grumble. “I was suppose to leave the harbor this morning,” he complained. “Now, my special cargo of milk, fruit, and vegetables will be spoiled!” Foduck payed no attention to this. Jake was known to complain about his cargo being delivered on time. All afternoon Foduck was moving ships. He was beginning to feel tired. But he only took breaks to refill his tank. But as he went back to work the other tugboats were worried about him. “You look tired,” commented Emily as she passed by with an old barrage for the Junk Dock. Foduck just continued on his way. He then met George, pulling Bobby barge, who had bumpers. “You should take a break,” he said kindly. Foduck didn’t think that was a good idea. “If I take a break, ships will be late to their docks,” he replied. Late that afternoon Foduck arrived at the harbor entrance. He had to bring in a big ship named Logan. As Logan approached, Foduck could see that he was loaded with a big pile of cargo. Logan came to a stop. “Hello Logan! I’m Foduck, and I’ll take you into the harbor.” “Thank you,” said Logan kindly. Foduck buttoned on and he started to pull Logan through the Big Harbor. As he did so, he could feel the strain on his towropes. His engine felt hotter than ever. Smoke started to billow out. “You might want to stop,” suggested Logan worriedly. “No, I can’t,” groaned Foduck. “I must get you to your dock.” Foduck went on. Then, with a loud pop, his engine failed. Foduck blew his emergency whistle. George came up and saw the situation. He buttoned on and finished the job. After that he took Foduck to the Repair Dock. “Why did you bring Logan in by yourself, and why didn’t you take breaks?” asked George. “I wanted to be helpful,” said Foduck sadly. “You can be helpful,” said George in a gentle voice, “But you must also take care of yourself. If you don’t, then you can’t help us.” For the rest of the journey Foduck thought about this. He knew that George was right. It was hard to accept this though. “Well, I was sure helpful today,” said Foduck at last. The two tugboats laughed. We are back in the Harbor Master’s office. He is taking things out of his lunchbox. “You know, since that day Foduck has been taking breaks when he needs to. And I’m ready to have my break too. Thanks for visiting us here in the Big Harbor, we’ll see you all again next time!” He takes a bite of his sandwich. “Penut-butter and seaweed! My favorite!” Category:TT S1